Whistler Secondary School (WSS) emerged from the 2025 North Shore High School Mountain Bike Series with two banners: one for girls in Grades 8 and 9, and another for ninth-grade boys.
Two of those girls, Austin Lewis and Alva Campos, made a splash at provincials in Powell River, B.C. They finished sixth and 10th, respectively, in the bantam cross-country event, while junior Lily McGowan rode to fifth in cross-country and ninth in enduro.
WSS bike coach Lesley Clements said her young ladies—Campos, Lewis, Mikayla Goldrick, Cece Burton, Ella Winter and Josie Cooper—bought into a winning culture all season long.
"[They] worked especially hard and consistently," remarked Clements. "They didn't miss any of the training rides. They always had really strong, happy, optimistic attitudes. We had a few riders that it was their first time ever racing, and they put a confident step forward: Mikayla, Ella, Josie, Alva had raced a little bit before in enduro but not cross-country.
"We had six Grade 8/9 girls and only two Grade 8 boys in the mix this year … which is a huge flip [from the past]. The girls have said they're super keen to come back next year, and they've all basically said they have friends that they're going to bring in."
Of course, the boys did their part, too: Max and Reed Murray, Leo Pullen, Sawyer Munn-Gotto, Tyler Swain, Caius von Raven, Owen Levitt, Ben Carriere, Jeremy Smerychynski, Cooper Olson and Hayden Keam.
"Sawyer was probably the most enthusiastic and consistent," Clements said. "Reed was always super keen, Cooper Olson [had an] amazing attitude even though he wasn't able to come to provincials. [However] I have to say: we struggled with a number of the Grade 9 boys in terms of training rides because they didn't want to pedal. It's the first time I've had to deal with that, and that was really challenging."
A build phase
The banners were doled out on May 14, the series finale on home soil with 300 riders filing into Cheakamus for a day of racing and fellowship. There was music, a Lucia Gelato fundraiser and more.
"The course was a huge success. Usually we have it at Lost Lake and they like it, but they don't love it. All the athletes loved Cheakamus with all the new trails—using Flashback, AM/PM and After Hours," Clements said. "The best thing to see about those races, especially the end of the season, is just the camaraderie of kids from all the different schools. Racing is important, but it's all about the connection and relationship-building. It was pretty emotional, too, with parents being so proud."
Keeping with the theme of relationship-building, Clements emphasizes fun and participation to her students. She knows a results-driven coaching philosophy alienates lots of kids because it adds undue stress, but learning to enjoy the process is vital.
McGowan (a versatile athlete whom Clements described as "a rock star") and Lewis both took those ideas to heart at provincials, while Campos soldiered across the finish line despite feeling unwell on race day.
With a solid young core in place, there's reason to be excited for the WSS bike team's outlook.
"It's super inspiring when we're competing against these big schools from the North Shore with 1,000 or 1,300 kids, but we're able to have these pretty amazing results," said Clements. "Knowing who's come through our team, like Finn Iles and Wei Tien … I always remind the kids.There's a bunch of enthusiastic newcomers coming into the school so the future looks bright. I'd say we're in a build phase right now, and I think there's even better things to come in the next couple of years."
Full results from provincials are available at zone4.ca/event/2025/Xm3R9m.
